Bob Marley and various Disney songs continue to shuffle in the playlist in my mind. We ventured back from safari to Arusha this morning. Between mini-naps, sightings of giraffes
and baboons and camels caught my eye. That this is acceptable is pretty fantastic.
Back in Arusha, a very disappointing trip to the museum revealed little knowledge and no zeal.
And then, shopping at the Masai market. (Oh with all this shopping!) Shopping is a game of wills and strategy. I need time to warm up for it and we had so little time here. Do I really want this so badly? “Karibu.” “Asante.” “Mambo.” “Poa.” Everyone, EVERYONE!, greets you and welcomes you quite forcefully into their shop (or multiple shops). You are then shuffled into the adjacent hut-shop by their neighbor. “Pole pole” – take time to look. “Be free.” “Name your price.” “It’s a good price.” (No, it’s not a good price, c’mon now.)
OMG, this would be a great final exam for someone undergoing social-skills-build
ing therapy. (I think I failed today. My face hurts from faking a smile and saying “asante” so much. And I only ended up with a necklace and pair of earrings.) Being able to say no and stick to your price while remaining cheerful and interactive is tough! Watching a seasoned shopper like Dr. Lewis is entertaining though. “I wouldn’t pay that price if Obama himself had painted it,” she told a merchant selling Aja a painting. So much energy and effort.
We gathered up our goods and had our dinner. Sleep awaits. Long ride back to Dar in the a.m.
P.S. Sighting of Mt. Kilimanjaro today. As Bonny says, “She is a shy mountain.” She hides behind the clouds mostly. View, pretty cool, but the camera could not show it – not even close. Maybe tomorrow.
5/25/11 Passing Thoughts
The hum and roll of the bus lulls me intermittently into sleep. I am distracted by the BLASTING! music playing though. Over the ten hours back to Dar, occasional thoughts came to mind:
- As the sun shone on my face and the wind beat against my skin, a distinct thought of leaving the world behind and staying in this village I’m looking at forever.
- Later, disturbing thoughts about what my life could possibly look like in five years, what I want it to be, how I can get there . . . I thought these thoughts had been locked away. Ah well, the child smiling at me from his mother’s side just waved them away.
- Do these companies – Coke, Pepsi, Tigo, Zantel – pay people or villages or the government to paint advertisements on buildings and homes in these small villages? How much? And who really benefits? (They are everywhere.)
- Pollution is a problem. We just watched our “bus attendants” – like flight attendants for the bus – take the trash can from the bus and throw it on the roadside. Litter accumulates anywhere outside of protected areas. The air frequently smells of exhaust and smoke from trash being burned. Plastic bags and bottles float in the scenic waterways. It’s unfortunate, really, we humans.
- A couple of roadside marketplace dance shows (?). Very fun.
- There are quite a good many bikers up and down the highway and stopped altogether at villages. Not unlike the countryside at home.
We said goodbye to Bonny this morning. We will miss his thoughtful guidance, his Swahili lessons, his sense of humor, his sweet smile. Funny story: he was coughing a bit yesterday and I offered him a cough drop. He was hesitant to take it - "It's not a drug, is it? It's not like the crack or anything?" I assured him that it was not "the crack" and that it actually had no medicine in it all - that it is really just a hard candy - "not the crack."
He truly was fantastic. (He gave us his card so that we could keep in touch with him.)
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